Landing Zones 1 and 2 explained

Landing Zone 1 and 2
Site:Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Short:LZ-1, LZ-2
Operator:SpaceX
Paddetails:
Designation:LZ-1
Landing:yes
Status:Active
Landings:44 (43 successful, 1 failure)
First Landing:21 December 2015 (Falcon 9 flight 20)
Last Landing:15 August 2024 (WorldView Legion 3 & 4)
Designation:LZ-2
Landing:yes
Status:Active
Landings:11 (all successful)
First Landing:6 February 2018 (Falcon Heavy test flight)
Last Landing:25 June 2024 (GOES-U)

Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, also known as LZ-1 and LZ-2 respectively, are landing facilities at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station used by SpaceX. They allow the company to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket or the two side boosters of its Falcon Heavy rocket.

The facilities were built on land leased in February 2015 on the site of the former Launch Complex 13.[1] [2] Landing Zone 1 saw its first use on 21 December 2015 when B1019 touched down during Falcon 9 flight 20. Landing Zone 2 was added ahead of the first Falcon Heavy test flight on 6 February 2018. During a Falcon Heavy launch, both LZ’s are used allowing the two side boosters to land simultaneously.

Site

Landing Zones 1 and 2 are located at the former location of Launch Complex 13, which has been demolished and replaced by two circular landing pads in diameter and marked with a stylized X from the SpaceX company logo.[3] Four more diameter pads were initially planned to be built to support the simultaneous recovery of additional boosters used by the Falcon Heavy, although only one extra pad has been built. Planned infrastructure additions to support operations includes improved roadways for crane movement, a rocket pedestal area, remote-controlled fire suppression systems in case of a landing failure, and a large concrete foundation, away from the future three landing pads, for attaching the booster stage when taking the rocket from vertical to horizontal orientation.[4]

Operations at the facility began after seven earlier landing tests by SpaceX, five of which involved intentional descents into the open ocean, followed by two failed landing tests on an ocean-going platform.[5] [6] As of March 2, 2015, the Air Force's sign for LC-13 was briefly replaced with a sign identifying it as Landing Complex.[7] The site was renamed Landing Zone prior to its first use as a landing site.[8] [9] Elon Musk indicated in January 2016 that he thought the likelihood of successful landings for all of the attempted landings in 2016 would be approximately 70 percent, hopefully rising to 90 percent in 2017, and cautioned that the company expects a few more failures.[10]

In July 2016, SpaceX applied for permission to build two additional landing pads at Landing Zone 1 for landing the boosters from Falcon Heavy flights.[11]

In May 2017, construction on a second, smaller pad began, called Landing Zone 2. This pad is located about to the northwest of the first pad and is used for landing Falcon Heavy side boosters.[12] By June 2017, the landing pad was modified with a radar reflective paint, to aid with landing precision.[13]

Falcon 9 boosters mostly land on LZ-1 pad and rarely land on LZ-2, except in cases when a Cape Canaveral launched booster cannot land on LZ-1, as a previous booster is still sitting on that pad, as in case of Hakuto-R Mission 1's booster B1073.5 on 11 December 2022. The LZ-1 was already occupied by Oneweb Flight#15's booster B1069.4 launched on 8 December 2022, so LZ-2 was used by a Falcon 9 for the first time.

Landing history

Detailed history

For landings at sea, see Autonomous spaceport drone ship

After approval from the FAA, SpaceX accomplished its first successful landing at the complex with Falcon 9 flight 20 on December 22, 2015 UTC;[14] this was the 8th controlled-descent test of a Falcon 9 first stage.[9] [15] A second successful landing at LZ-1 took place shortly after midnight, local time (EDT) on July 18, 2016, as part of the CRS-9 mission, which was the Falcon 9's 27th flight.[16] The third successful landing was by the CRS-10 mission's first stage on February 19, 2017, which was the Falcon 9's 30th flight.[17] Landing Zone 2 was first used by the maiden launch of Falcon Heavy on February 6, 2018, when the rocket's two side boosters touched down on LZ-1 and LZ-2.[18]

Date (UTC)Mission Flight № Landing ZoneLanding Result
December 22, 2015 01:39OG2-F2Falcon 9 Full Thrust
B1019.1		20LZ-1colspan=2
July 18, 2016 04:53 Falcon 9 Full Thrust
B1025.1 		27 LZ-1colspan=2
February 19, 2017 14:47 Falcon 9 Full Thrust
B1031.1 		30 LZ-1colspan=2
May 1, 2017 11:24 Falcon 9 Full Thrust
B1032.1 		33 LZ-1colspan=2
June 3, 2017 21:15 Falcon 9 Full Thrust
B1035.1 		35 LZ-1colspan=2
August 14, 2017 16:39 Falcon 9 Full Thrust
B1039.1 (Block 4) 		39 LZ-1colspan=2
September 7, 2017 Falcon 9 Full Thrust
B1040.1 (Block 4) 		41 LZ-1colspan=2
December 15, 2017 Falcon 9 Full Thrust
B1035.2 		45 LZ-1colspan=2
January 8, 2018 Falcon 9 Full Thrust
B1043.1 (Block 4) 		47 LZ-1colspan=2
February 6, 2018 Falcon Heavy
B1023.2, B1025.2 		LZ-1
B1023.2 		LZ-2
B1025.2
B1023.2
B1025.2
December 5, 2018 Falcon 9 Block 5
B1050.1		65LZ-1colspan=2
(Landed in ocean)
April 11, 2019Falcon Heavy
B1052.1, B1053.1		FH #2LZ-1
B1052.1 		LZ-2
B1053.1
B1052.1
B1053.1
June 25, 2019STP-2Falcon Heavy
B1052.2, B1053.2		FH #3LZ-1
B1052.2 		LZ-2
B1053.2
B1052.2
B1053.2
July 25, 2019SpaceX CRS-18Falcon 9 Block 5 B1056.273LZ-1colspan=2
March 7, 2020SpaceX CRS-20Falcon 9 Block 5 B1059.282LZ-1colspan=2
August 30, 2020SAOCOM 1BFalcon 9 Block 5B1059.492LZ-1colspan=2
December 19, 2020NROL-108Falcon 9 Block 5B1059.5103LZ-1colspan=2
June 25, 2021Transporter-2Falcon 9 Block 5 B1060.8123LZ-1colspan=2
January 13, 2022Falcon 9 Block 5 B1058.10136LZ-1colspan=2
January 31, 2022CSG-2Falcon 9 Block 5 B1052.3138LZ-1colspan=2
May 25, 2022Transporter-5Falcon 9 Block 5 B1061.8156LZ-1colspan=2
November 1, 2022USSF-44Falcon Heavy
B1064.1, B1065.1		FH #4LZ-1
B1064.1 		LZ-2
B1065.1
B1064.1
B1065.1
December 8, 2022OneWeb #15Falcon 9 Block 5B1069.4188LZ-1colspan="2"
December 11, 2022Hakuto-R Mission 1[19]
(including Transformable Lunar Robot and Emirates Lunar Mission)[20] [21]
Lunar Flashlight[22] 		Falcon 9 Block 5 B1073.5189LZ-2colspan=2
January 3, 2023Transporter-6Falcon 9 Block 5B1060.15195LZ-1colspan=2
January 10, 2023OneWeb #16Falcon 9 Block 5B1076.2196LZ-1colspan="2"
January 15, 2023USSF-67Falcon Heavy
B1065.2, B1064.2		FH #5LZ-1
B1065.2		LZ-2
B1064.2
B1065.2
B1064.2
March 9, 2023OneWeb #17Falcon 9 Block 5B1062.13209LZ-1colspan="2"
May 21, 2023Axiom Mission 2Falcon 9 Block 5B1080.1226LZ-1colspan="2"
July 29, 2023EchoStar 24 (Jupiter 3)Falcon Heavy B1064.3, B1065.3FH #7LZ-1 B1064.3LZ-2 B1065.3
B1064.3
B1065.3
August 26, 2023SpaceX Crew-7Falcon 9 Block 5B1081.1249LZ-1colspan="2"
October 13, 2023PsycheFalcon HeavyB1064.4, B1065.4FH #8LZ-1B1064.4LZ-2B1065.4
B1064.4
B1065.4
November 10, 2023SpaceX CRS-29Falcon 9 Block 5B1081.2271LZ-1colspan="2"
December 29, 2023USSF-52 (Boeing X-37B)Falcon HeavyB1064.5, B1065.5FH #9LZ-1 B1064.5LZ-2 B1065.5
B1064.5
B1065.5
January 3, 2024Ovzon-3Falcon 9 Block 5B1076.10287LZ-1colspan="2"
January 18, 2024Axiom Mission 3Falcon 9 Block 5B1080.5291LZ-1colspan="2"
January 30, 2024Cygnus NG-20Falcon 9 Block 5B1077.10295LZ-1colspan="2"
February 8, 2024PACEFalcon 9 Block 5B1081.4296LZ-1colspan="2"
February 14, 2024USSF-124Falcon 9 Block 5B1078.7298LZ-2colspan="2"
February 15, 2024IM-1 Nova-C Odysseus lunar landerFalcon 9 Block 5B1060.18299LZ-1colspan="2"
March 4, 2024SpaceX Crew-8Falcon 9 Block 5B1083.1305LZ-1colspan="2"
March 21, 2024SpaceX CRS-30Falcon 9 Block 5B1080.6312LZ-1colspan="2"
April 7, 2024Bandwagon-1, SmallSat RideshareFalcon 9 Block 5B1073.14320LZ-1colspan="2"
June 25, 2024GOES-UFalcon HeavyB1072.1, B1086.1FH #10LZ-1 B1072.1LZ-2 B1086.1
B1072.1
B1086.1
August 4, 2024Cygnus NG-21Falcon 9 Block 5B1080.10360LZ-1colspan="2"
August 15, 2024WorldView Legion 3 & 4 (2 Sats)Falcon 9 Block 5B1076.16364LZ-1colspan="2"
September 24, 2024SpaceX Crew-9Falcon 9 Block 5B1085.2LZ-1

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. 45th Space Wing, SpaceX sign first-ever landing pad agreement at the Cape . 45th Space Wing Public Affairs . 10 February 2015 . 10 February 2015.
  2. News: Gruss. Mike . SpaceX Leases Florida Launch Pad for Rocket Landings . 12 February 2015 . . 10 February 2015 .
  3. News: Davenport. Christian. Elon Musk’s SpaceX returns to flight and pulls off dramatic, historic landing. The Washington Post. 21 December 2015. en-US.
  4. Web site: Draft Environmental Assessment for the Space Exploration Technologies Vertical Landing of the Falcon Vehicle and Construction at Launch Complex 13 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Florida . October 2014 . USAF . 2015-12-23 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150108071150/http://www.patrick.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-141107-004.pdf . 2015-01-08 .
  5. Web site: SpaceX to try landing booster on a sea platform . James Dean . Florida Today . 6 January 2015 . 8 February 2015 .
  6. News: Graham. William . SpaceX Falcon 9 ready for DSCOVR mission . 8 February 2015 . NASASpaceFlight.com . 8 February 2015 .
  7. Web site: SpaceX - SpaceX's Photos - Facebook. facebook.com.
  8. News: Bergin. Chris . SpaceX Falcon 9 Static Fires ahead of OG2 RTF mission . 2015-12-19 . NASASpaceFlight.com . 2015-12-18 . All that is currently known for this mission is SpaceX’s ambition to conduct a historic landing on its new Cape Canaveral landing pad, officially known as LZ-1 (Landing Zone -1), but also tagged “X..
  9. News: Rocket landing at Cape Canaveral planned after SpaceX launch . 2015-12-19 . SpaceflightNow . 2015-12-21 .
  10. elonmusk. 689299216607232000. My best guess for 2016: ~70% landing success rate (so still a few more RUDs to go), then hopefully improving to ~90% in 2017. Elon Musk. 19 January 2016. Elon Musk.
  11. News: Santana. Marco. SpaceX seeks approval for two additional landing pads on Space Coast. 20 July 2016. Orlando Sentinel. 18 July 2016.
  12. Web site: LZ-1 to LZ-2 distance estimate . imgur . JerWah . 12 September 2018.
  13. elonmusk. Elon Musk. 871228411494014976. 4 June 2017. @Pandora659 Yeah, pretty much dead center. We painted the target area with radio reflective paint, which helps the radar be more precise..
  14. News: Graham. William . SpaceX returns to flight with OG2, nails historic core return . 2015-12-21 . NASASpaceFlight.com . 2015-12-21 . During Monday’s launch, the first stage made its historic return to LZ-1 and successfully landed in a milestone event for SpaceX..
  15. News: Dean. James. SpaceX wants to land next booster at Cape Canaveral. 2 December 2015. Florida Today. 2015-12-01.
  16. http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/spacex-launch-iss-docking-port-nasa-1.3683338 SpaceX launches space station docking port for NASA
  17. News: Historic launch pad back in service with thundering blastoff by SpaceX . Spaceflight Now . Stephen . Clark . 19 February 2017 . 5 March 2017.
  18. News: Gebhardt. Chris. SpaceX successfully debuts Falcon Heavy in demonstration launch from KSC – NASASpaceFlight.com. 7 February 2018. NASASpaceFlight.com. 6 February 2018.
  19. Web site: Ispace .
  20. Web site: Elizabeth Howell . 2021-05-27 . Japan will send a transforming robot ball to the moon to test lunar rover tech . 2022-10-17 . Space.com . en.
  21. Data Acquisition on the Lunar Surface with a Transformable Lunar Robot, Assisting Development of the Crewed Pressurized Rover . . 27 May 2021 . 14 October 2022.
  22. Web site: Rocket Launch Viewing Guide For Cape Canaveral . 2022-10-17 . www.launchphotography.com . en.

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